Don’t Fear Lauren Cohan

The Walking Dead actress talks about her on-screen battle with zombies, and off-screen relationship to fans.

AMC’s The Walking Dead, in which week after week characters run for their lives in the wake of a zombie apocalypse, is one of the highest-rated cable shows in the United States. It has spawned a program devoted solely to discussing its many deaths and intrigues (Talking Dead), as well as an upcoming spin-off (Fear the Walking Dead). “I don’t know what this obsession with zombie culture says about us,” says Lauren Cohan, the British actress who plays the headstrong Southerner Maggie Greene in the series. Onscreen, she constantly battles the hungry undead; in real life, she must contend with the show’s no less voracious Comic-Con–storming fans. “I get anxious sometimes,” she admits. “But I believe that when I wear my glasses, I’m invisible to them.”